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Earthquake Tremor Hits Mongolia's Central Province

Written by Sh.Batmonkh
Thursday, June 12, 2008.
An earthquake jolted Tseel soum, Tov aimag last week, leaving no injuries but plenty of rattled nerves. The earthquake was recorded as being 24km west of Tseel soum, Tov aimag and had a preliminary magnitude of 4.2 magnitude, according to the local Geographical Survey as reported in the daily newspaper Ardyn Erkh on June 10.Ã‚Â It struck on June 4, shortly after 2.30pm, with small aftershocks felt for a while in areas of Tov aimag. It followed widespread fear in UB last week that an earthquake was going to strike the city. Many people became afraid of staying in their apartments and moved to gers or one-storey houses for better safety. Media reports revealed that some citizens were afraid to sleep at night for fear they would be unprepared for tremors. The panic was compounded by an alert issued by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) warning of a possible earthquake, and asking people to leave high buildings if they lived or worked in one. NEMA later said it was merely playing safe and had not intended to scare people. The National Astronomy and Geophysics Research Center (NAGRC) and the State Meteorological Institution said they had not asked for any alert to be issued. Ã¢â‚¬Å“It is really impossible to predict an earthquake. One can feel it only when it happens, and that is why even countries with advanced technology, like China and Japan, are helpless when an earthquake occurs,Ã¢â‚¬Â said officials. In 1905, western parts of Mongolia, such as the Altai Mountain Range, suffered a quake measuring eight on the Richter scale. Officials said an earthquake of this frequency occurs once in 2,500 years, so there is no need to be afraid.